Maddie Bowman wins gold in ski halfpipe

KRASNAYA POLYANA, American Maddie Bowman claimed the first ever gold medal in ladies' ski halfpipe on Thursday evening at the Rosa Khutor Extreme Park by posting the two best scores of the night (85.80 and 89.00). France's Marie Martinod whose aggressive second run earned her a high score of 85.40.took silver, and Japan's Ayana Onozuka took bronze with consistent amplitude and smooth style (83.20).

Bowman completed the American sweep of gold in the Olympic debut of the event, joining David Wise, who won the men's event on Tuesday. She brought out the big guns in her final run, spinning right and left side 900s while throwing in a last-hit switch 720 for good measure.

Her corked left side 900 was one of the most impressive tricks of the evening and she landed it perfectly in both of her final runs.

"I don't think it's possible to put this into words. I am so happy. It's crazy." She said in an interview. "I planned to do that run the whole time, and I'm glad I could put it down the way I did. Gosh, it means so much for us to be able to show the world what our sport is, what we do and what we are."

Martinod had the best score in qualifying, while Bowman was third and Onozuka fourth heading into the final. While Martinod has become the third French lady to clinch a medal in Freestyle Skiing and the first to claim silver (the other two were bronzes), Onozuka is the second athlete to win a Freestyle medal for Japan after Tae Satoya claimed gold in ladies' moguls in 1998 and bronze in 2002.

Maddie and Marie are great friends and I am happy for them. It is like a dream to be in the Winter Olympics and to finish in third.", Onozuka concluded.